The UEFA Champions League’s revamped league format has been nothing short of enthralling, and it has certainly served its purpose as teams head into Matchday 8 still unsure of their fate.
Of the five British teams in the competition this season, one has already wrapped up automatic progression to the round-of-16, while another heads into a must-win encounter on Wednesday if they’re to avoid an embarrassing early exit.
Not sure what your team needs to do to progress? We’ve simplified it for you.
Liverpool – 1st, 21pts
Liverpool are one of just two teams to have mathematically confirmed their automatic progression to the round-of-16 by finishing in the top eight, meaning they’ll avoid a potentially tricky two-legged play-off in February.
Arne Slot’s side have won all of their 7 games so far in Europe’s elite competition, and while they haven’t quite done enough yet to seal the top spot, a point against PSV Eindhoven will be enough to secure that first-place finish.
Liverpool are, however, guaranteed to finish inside the top two as Arsenal are unable to catch them. There’s no real benefit to finishing first under this new format, though, as their path moving into the round-of-16 will be decided by a randomised draw.
Arsenal – 3rd, 16 pts
Mathematically speaking, Arsenal haven’t secured direct progression to the round-of-16 yet. But fear not, the permutations look remarkably positive for Mikel Arteta’s side, who would guarantee a spot in the top four if they beat a Girona side that has already been eliminated from the competition on Wednesday.
Even if Arsenal do slip up at the Estadi Montilivi, it shouldn’t be cause for concern. The Gunners would only drop into the play-off spots if five of the following six results happen – and we think that’s a pretty unlikely scenario.
- Inter pick up at least a point against Monaco, or Monaco close their goal difference gap to Arsenal by at least nine goals
- Atlético Madrid beat RB Salzburg
- Atalanta defeat Barcelona
- Bayer Leverkusen beat Sparta Praha, closing the goal difference gap to Arsenal by at least six goals
- Aston Villa, Feyenoord, Lille or Brest win and close their goal difference gap to Arsenal by at least seven goals
Aston Villa – 9th, 13pts
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are guaranteed a play-off place, even if they aren’t able to claw their way back into the top eight with a win at home against Celtic on Wednesday.
Three points won’t be enough for the Villans, though, as they’ll also need one of the five teams above them to drop points. Their best hopes lie with Atalanta, who head to Barcelona.
But Unai Emery’s side need to win big, too, else they risk being leapfrogged in the table by Monaco, Feyenoord, Lille or Brest. It’ll be a nervy evening for Villa fans as their fate will be decided by goals elsewhere.
Celtic – 18th, 12pts
Celtic have already qualified for the play-offs as a minimum, but they find themselves just a point behind Aston Villa, and so it wouldn’t be outside the realms of possibility for them to snag a spot in the top eight with a win on Wednesday.
They’ll need plenty of results to fall in their favour though, so Brendan Rodgers’ side will have likely accepted that their route to the round-of-16 will involve a two-legged play-off in February.
Manchester City – 25th, 8pts
Well, who’d have seen this coming?
Pep Guardiola’s side find themselves on the brink of an embarrassing early elimination from the UEFA Champions League if they fail to beat Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
It is mathematically impossible for Manchester City to qualify for the top eight, and their hopes of progressing through the play-offs rest on picking up three points against Belgian opposition.
The Cityzens‘ seemed to have emerged from their lengthy pre-Christmas losing streak and recently claimed a 3-1 victory over Chelsea, but they’ve picked up just two wins from seven games in the UEFA Champions League so far this season. Anything other than a win would see Manchester City eliminated.